Smoked Salt & Pepper

I took a little hiatus from blogging because I had a hard time figuring out how to cook the time-consuming, challenging recipes and meals that I was used to once baby John showed up and I no longer had help from my mom and went back to work. But now that John's a little better on a schedule and I've figured out how to compromise my cooking with some shortcuts, I'm back.  Recipe and posts will be a bit simpler than before, because I don't really have hours of free time anymore.  Those are taken up by baby snuggles! I've never been great at super meal planning where you cook everything one day of the week, but I have found a few things helpful.  Some of these tips are from a book my friend gave me, Parents Need to Eat, Too So here are a few tips and shortcuts that I've found useful as a new mom: buying prepared produce is OK.  Save time, but splurge a little for those already washed and cut veggies.  I now buy at least one bag of sugar snap peas or broccol...

Getting together the Austin Foob Bloggers' 2017 City Guide and checking out some Vietnamese places I hadn't been yet.    Mi Xa Xiu at Cyclo Restaurant

My mom stayed with us for a whole month after John was born.  To say we were pampered is the least of it.  She made this for us while I was wallowing in self-pity about my peri-partum Bells Palsy (facial nerve paralysis) and Reid was fighting a flu-like cold.  And she helped with baby John.  The kitchen smelt so good.  I asked her to write down her recipe for me (a very hard task for someone who cooks as well as she does).  We ate it in baguettes with French mayonnaise and cucumbers and shredded and pickled carrots for banh mi xiu mai  (though I couldn't chew the crusty delicious outer crust so I ate mine with lettuce). Xui mai, or su mai , or whatever other crazy spelling we've come up for translating Chinese/Vietnamese words into English phonetics are basically Asian meatballs.  They are savory from fish sauce and soy sauce and have a bit of a chewy/crunchy bits sprinkled throughout from the waterchestnuts or jicama root.  So like instead...

I had a baby.  John.  On November 26,2016 at 3:01am weighing 6lbs 6 oz and 21" long. So there was a break from the blogging.  My next few posts are going to be back logged from when I started them or super late.  I may not have a post consistently again.  Or one that makes any sense. Sleep deprivation is tough... Almost as hard as quiting cheese and dairy because John may have a milk intolerance. My baby burrito

I don't know about you, but allergy and cold and flu season has been kicking my butt. Maybe it's the lack of sleep while waking up so frequently to breastfeed the baby, the Bells Palsy, or just being post-partum, but my immune system just hasn't been working great.  So this is a great way to quickly get some vitamin C in that's easy to gulp down.   I love the taste of cardamom  and cinnamon and the turmeric adds anti-inflammatory benefits. Raw honey is supposed to help with allergies.  Flax seed adds omega 3.  I have a Blendtec blender so it's super easy to throw everything in (can be prepped night before) and blend in the morning while I'm toting the baby around in the morning.   Then it goes in my shaker cup! 2 c. Unsweetened vanilla almond milk 1 large Fuji apple 2 carrots 2 mandarin oranges 2 tbs ground flax seed 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp Indian turmeric  2 tsp ground cardamom  Directions: combine all ingredients in a blender. 

When you have a 3 week old, you make super duper easy semi-homemade shortcut Christmas cookies. Made peppermint brownies by adding peppermint extract and crushed peppermint to store bought brownie mix, store bought chocolate chip cookie dough, and poor man's turtles (pretzel+melted Rolo+M&Ms). 

I'm really bad at posting great holiday recipes until it's too late.  I'm just not that good of a food blogger.  But posting ON THE ACTUAL DAY? Does that count? HEB is open until 2pm so if you're still looking for a last minute Thanksgiving dish to bring to a dinner or add to yours, here it is! Mom's Bourbon Pecan Sweet Potato Casserole Ingredients: 4 lbs. sweet potatoes 3 green apples, peeled, cored and sliced 6 tbs. butter 1/2 c.dark brown sugar 1/2 tsp. kosher salt 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. ginger 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg 1 &1/2 tsp. vanilla 2 tsp. maple syrup 1/4 c. bourbon 1 c. toasted pecans or chestnuts optional: 1 bag mini marshmallows Directions: Roast and peel sweet potatoes in a 375*F oven for about 30-45 minutes.  Slice in 1/4" thick rounds. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine butter, sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.  Lower heat to a simmer and add vanilla, maple syrup, and bourbon.  Simmer until sugar is di...